Sunday, April 10, 2016

Britain's Choice: Democracy Or Eurocracy

Democracy in the European Union: The people = one vote, the bureaucracy = millions of votes - because, and I quote, "The people are not intelligent enough to understand complex issues".

As we have commented before, it is not just a large section of British public opinion that want's to get our country out of Europe. Last week voters in The Netherlands voted by a big majority against the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which would be a step towards fast - tracking the accession of war torn, economic basket case Ukraine to full membership of the EU, and is being pushed by Brussels.

There is little chance the Dutch vote will be acted on, the European Union's ruling bureaucracy has previously shown its contempt for the democratic process and public opinion, notably in the rejection of an Irish referendum a few years ago that rejected The Lisbon Treaty, an agreement which transferred sovereign rights from elected parliaments to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, and in the way democratically elected Greek and Italian governments were replaced by EU appointees after refusing to adopt punitive austerity measure imposed by the EU, after the economic crisis engineered by the EU Commission and the global bankers brought about the near collapse of those nations.

It may not be generally known among voters of the twenty eight member states but The EU is embarked on an irrevocable expansionist agenda that would see the ruling bureaucracy spread its tentacles into Africa and the middle east. Foremost among the expansion targets are the terrorist state Turkey and another economic basket case, Georgia

But at least voters in The Netherlands had the opportunity to make their feelings known. Unfortunately, Latvians do not have the kinds of opportunities the Dutch do, suggests Juris Paiders, the head of the Latvian Journalists' Union.

Commenting on the Dutch vote in an op-ed for Latvia's nra.lv news hub, Paiders wrote that when it comes to democracy, the Latvian people don't have the same opportunities the Dutch.

"If such a non-binding referendum was held in Latvia, I am absolutely confident that the majority of the government's ruling coalition would simply spit on its results." This view is based on precedent according to Paiders. "This already happened [in 2003] when 80% of Latvians rejected our country's participation in the Iraq War, while the Latvian elite was at the forefront of the warmongers. Ultimately, Latvia was drawn into the war, the justification for which was falsified, and as a result, the region's security suffered."

Fortunately, Paiders continued, "the Netherlands is not Latvia. In Latvia the political elite, step by step, is liquidating democratic values. In Latvia, referendums and other forms of direct democracy are being replaced with a system of totalitarian punishments and prohibitions. Conversely, the Netherlands' largest parties have promised to take the will of the people into account."

"The Dutch referendum explains well why the ruling coalition in Latvia is so afraid of democracy. When referendums are factually banned, the political elite can do whatever it wants with the country. It can reduce spending on health and education, and allocate more funding for politically corrupt procurement schemes. It can [also] agree to speed up the EU's federalization, and remove all national boundaries, in spite of the attitudes of the majority of the people."

That's his opinion of the state of democracy in Latvia and it is not very encouraging. Many readers may jump to the conclusion that the former Soviet republic has not really wrapped its head round the basic concepts of democracy yet. But that would not be fair, because what is described as applying in Latvia is typical of the way the increasingly authoritarian bureaucracy in Brussels envisages the future of European member states' democratic governments, as mere rubber stamp wielders for decisions made in camera by the faceless people in the 'shadow government. Read more on the contempt in which European Union leaders hold the principle of democracy HERE, HERE and HERE.